IDC said smartphone shipments are expected to reach 360m this year, driven by strong consumer demand for upgrades and discounts from operators.

The Chinese government's issuance of 4G licences and China Mobile's co-operation with the launch of Apple's new iPhone is forecast to drive overall demand to more than 450m units next year, including 120m 4G-enabled devices.

While iOS market share is expected to double in 2014, for the moment Apple's iPhone saw its market share fall to 5% in the second quarter.

"Affected by the sluggish sales of iPhone 5, Apple's market share has declined dramatically, but its performance is expected to remarkably improve with the launch of the new iPhone," said IDC analyst James Yan.

Samsung and Lenovo, the Chinese domestic brand, maintained their lead with market shares of 18.3% and 12.6% respectively while Shenzhen-based Coolpad grew 20.4% to increase its third-placed share to 11%.

Antonio Wang, an associate director at IDC China, attributed the market's two-digit quarter-on-quarter growth rate to "substantial" shipments of smartphones priced at less than RMB 800 and to vendors meeting the demands of students during the summer holidays.

IDC also forecast that the market share of smartphones with screens of more than five inches will grow from nearly 20% in 2013 to more than 50% in 2017.